That’s never NO good time for a spooky board game. In the run-up to the holidays, sometimes a little murder mystery can be a really nice juxtaposition to the vivid and shiny end-of-year celebrations. Mysterium is a proposition for lovers of the strange, murky and mysterious, but also for those who like a bit of teamwork during the holidays.
As an asymmetrical game, Mysterium consists of a group of fairies and a single ghost player who desperately tries to tell them the location, suspect, and murder weapon connected to their untimely death. The main problem is that they can only communicate through strange, twisted vision cards – they are not allowed to speak – and that they suffer from amnesia after the experience.
No, I’m not kidding, it’s written in the rules (in so many words).
Mysterium is a board game for players who love puzzle games, as the title might suggest. It is also for those who feel an overwhelming need to decipher the circular meanings behind surrealist works of art, even if they make little or no sense to anyone. At its core it’s a guessing game, but above all it’s a team-building exercise. At least it’s a team-building exercise for clairvoyants. Ghost usually takes its toll by offering nonsensical tips that send other players down the rabbit hole and losing the game.
It’s a unique combination of Clue/Cluedo and Dixit that’s incredibly basic once you get the hang of it. Just don’t expect to be invited to Thanksgiving again if you play the ghost badly.
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